Your Questions

Q

Dear Bernard In regards to the release of your next book I was wondering if you will be doing a book tour along with it and if you did whether you did you will be near Chester at all??? There is a statue of Wellingtons cavalry commander Stapleton Cotton outside the courthouse btw. Also one thing I noticed in all your books your main character is always an Infantry man rather than a cavalry man who are themselves portrayed as people who do not fight or when they do do it badly. Yet there were some who new how to fight. Paget won at Shagun and Benevente. And could not Starbuck ever meet or fight under Nathan Bedford Forrest. Hope you are not to annoyed with this but you have only really kept Starbuck in Virginia will you ever really send him down south and fight in some of the other areas. You have him as the daredevil rebel but could he handle the Norths tough Western armies??? And will the Starbuck's series ever be carried on again in this life time and if not can you give any hint on what was to happen to the characters since there is a lot of plot threads (11 years worth) left open Finally do not know if you have read them or not but Peter Reid's By Fire and Sword is worth a read and so is Stephen Sears book Gettysburg. Your sincerely Geraint

Submitted March 23, 2007

A

I know the Sears (wonderful), but I'll order the other - thanks! I won't know the book tour schedule until later in the year, but keep your eye on the Diary page of this website. Won't know about Starbuck until I get there.

Q

hi Bernard, like a lot of people I think the Warlord Chronicles are your best work but I'm also a huge fan of Stormchild and Gallows Thief---any chance of another Tim Blackburn or Rider Sandman novels? thanks Rob

I just finished Gallows Thief, what is Rider's next adventure? This was very good reading...Dennis

Submitted March 23, 2007

A

I do have some thoughts on a sequel to Gallows Thief - but probably will not get to it any time soon. Nothing new is planned for Mr. Blackburn.

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A very good day to you sir. Have you ever thought of writing a novel based on the British army in Zulu land during the Boer war? I am sure that the battles at Rorkes Drift and Islandhwana would throw up a multitude of heroes on both sides, but who to choose as the villain eh? mmmm could be interesting. James Olsen

Submitted March 23, 2007

A

I've thought of it, but it's not likely to happen...too many other things I want to write first.

Q

Hi, I must start by saying that I am a huge admirer of your Arthur trilogy. I am a contributor to an Arthurian website which looks at novels and films. It has long been an idea of our, to get the views of Arthurian authors on films. So we were wondering whether you had seen Antoine Fuqua's 2004 film, King Arthur and if you had any opinions on it or other Arthurian films. I appreciate that you must be a very busy man and thus will not be offended if you do not have the time to respond. Steve Carter

Submitted March 23, 2007

A

No, I didn't see it, and from all accounts I was extraordinarily lucky in missing it.

Q

Hi again, Mr. Cornwell. I've noticed one of the Saxon's battle chants "Out! Out! Out! Out! Out!" usually accompanied by a lot of banging of axe blades on shields. What do they mean by this? Are they calling on the enemy to get out of their country, or something else entirely? Alan Kempner

Submitted March 23, 2007

A

I assume so! Do I use that? Can't remember. I'm sure they shouted MUCH worse things!

Q

Sorry to bother you with this, but like you I've lent or lost most of my Sharpe books down the years. I think there was a quote in one of your historical notes along the lines of '...but there was much bravery and so many dead'. Can you remember who said that and of what battle? I've sort of made it a feature of a review of 'Kokoda' (new Aussie war film - very much worth a look) and now I can't find it. Any help would be gratefully received. Thanks. Matt

Submitted March 23, 2007

A

You're thinking, I think, of Napier's famous epitaph on Col Ridge of the 5th Fusiliers who died in the capture of Badajoz: 'And no man died that night with greater glory, yet many died, and there was much glory.' Wow!

Q

Hi Mr Cornwell. I live in Winchester and am therefore loving the Saxon stories. I know that you have visited here and always "walk the ground". Are any of the Winchester places mentioned based on real places? Hild's Abbey (Hyde Abbey?!), Alfred's study (somewhere near the Buttercross?!), the Two Cranes tavern, perhaps? Thanks! Robert Courts

Submitted March 23, 2007

A

Not sure about the tavern! The rest are drawn from what is known about Saxon Winchester (which is a good deal), and I love the museum there! But there's still a lot we don't know, alas . . . . but I visit about once a year to try and keep everything fresh.

Q

Dear Mr Cornwell I am thinking about writing an historical novel about one of our more infamous and colourful English Civil War regicides. I wanted to offer you the name and resources but I see from your website that you don't encourage new book ideas. Shame, you could have really got your teeth into him and saved me a lot of work! However, I have a worry about mixing fact and fiction on the page. Do you get problems from living descendants and brain-dead historians who complain about inaccuracies or does your historical notes chapter give you a legal/moral get-out? There are living relatives of my 'hero' whom I wouldn't want to upset but on the other hand I don't want the observance of historical accuracy to put a straitjacket on a rollicking good tale. Please put my mind at rest. David

Submitted March 23, 2007

A

If you have a good source that says a real historical character was a moron, then go ahead and stick the knife in! If you're writing real people then you must stick to the known facts . . . and if you don't know that much about them, then placate the relatives by making him/her into a good guy. No, I don't get problems! And relatives (descendants) won't give you problems if your portrait is accurate.

Q

Hi Bernard, I am currently carrying out a third year English dissertation on four books about King Alfred, one of them being the Pale Horseman. I was hoping that you would be able to shed some light on a couple of themes I am working on. Where as the other authors have given Alfred a chivalric manner, would you say that your Alfred is more Realpolitik? Secondly, would you say that Alfred chooses to use religion when he wants, and ignores paganism if it suits him (when his son gets healed by Iseult). I am sorry if this is too long and a bit random but any help you could give would be great. Kind Regards Robert

Submitted March 23, 2007

A

I made up the Iseult passage, so don't confuse my fiction with reality! I don't know if Alfred was chivalrous (the concept is a bit later than the 9th Century), but we do know he was extremely pious, scholarly and sick, which to my mind does not paint a picture of a warrior-king. He was forced into war and he conducted that war with a great deal of intelligence, because he was, plainly, one of the most intelligent men or women to rule in England (Elizabeth I was another). My own impression is that Alfred would never prefer paganism to Christianity, but we are in murky waters because undoubtedly a vast amount of pagan superstition lasted in Britain well into the 17th Century (see Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic) - and when his own son's life was at stake? But that was fiction, and had no basis in fact. And yes, he indulged in realpolitik a lot - mainly by bribing the Danes instead of fighting them, though he did fight. He was a realist, knowing how far his power would go, and working to increase his power (especially by the burh system).

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